Franklin Lakes Borough

Summary

Franklin Lakes Borough, Bergen County, reports receiving 60,495.70 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. The money must go to the abatement uses the national settlements list, or to documented evidence-based programs that address the epidemic. It must add to local spending, not replace it.

The Borough keeps the money in one account, G-02-41-766-000, National Opioids Settlement FD Trust. Its own worksheet records 56,896.43 received through 06/30/2026 and 64,520.21 through 07/24/2026. The account paid 44,619.87 through 09/11/2026 and had no open order.

The purchases are small and centered on the schools. Naloxone cabinets, a recovery poster display and a conference registration, 6,429.87 in all, are listed uses the Borough had not paid for before. This project classifies them as conforming. The middle school's Living Lessons day and two Project Graduation donations, 33,000.00, paid for events the Borough's Municipal Alliance budget funded before, and at Living Lessons paid twice the Alliance's earlier share. With the 190.00 wreath, 33,190.00 is non-conforming. A 5,000.00 speaker in 2023 is unverified. Read the Borough's findings.

What the Borough told the State

The State's fiscal year runs 07/01 to 06/30. The FY2023 and FY2026 reports name Frank O'Brien as the Borough's administrator and contact for the funds.

The FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports each certify 0.00 encumbered and 0.00 administrative. They certify 16,617.09, 28,986.76 and 23,500.14 unspent on hand.

The FY2023 report covers one program, a talk for teens and parents by Matt Bellace on 05/15/2023. It certifies 5,000.00 and gives the two check dates as its funding dates. The FY2023 report ties to the books.

The wreath

The FY2026 report lists a new program, the REACH Committee, REducing Addiction through Care and Help. It certifies 190.00 funded and spent in the year, funded and launched 05/25/2026. It gives the intended impact as "Informational signage for the REACH Committee." It files the program under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with the Schedule B strategy Connections to Care, and reports 100 people served.

The account shows one 190.00 charge. Colony Florist, Inc. purchase order 26-02002, described "REACH VETERAN'S PLAZA," was first encumbered on 07/14/2026. Check 19765 paid it on 07/22/2026. The Borough's own worksheet lists the same 190.00 as "Colony Florist REACH wreath," dated 5/25/2026.

The FY2026 period closed on 06/30/2026. No purchase order for the wreath was on the books that day. The money left the account 22 days later. The report's spending total, 18,190.00, is the 18,000.00 paid in the year plus this 190.00. A wreath is not signage, and no harm reduction program using it is documented. Certified a florist wreath as informational signage.

The naloxone cabinets

The FY2024 report certifies 12,769.88 spent between 07/01/2023 and 06/30/2024. It lists Living Lessons at 9,800.00 and Nalaxone Cabinets at 2,969.88. The cabinet block gives a funding date of 06/30/2024 and says nine Narcan cabinets "have been installed throughout town."

Mountainside Medical Equipment order 24-02138 was first encumbered on 07/23/2024 and paid by check 14534 on 08/21/2024, after the period closed. The FY2025 report then certifies the cabinets again, at 3,289.87, with the note "Forgot to report the amount." That figure is order 24-02138 plus a 319.99 cabinet paid on 10/16/2024. The three reports through FY2025 certify 29,399.75 spent. The account paid 26,429.87. Counted the same naloxone cabinets in two reports.

The cabinets themselves are a listed use. The FY2024 report says the Narcan inside them came from the Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources in Fair Lawn.

Receipts in FY2026

The FY2026 report certifies 9,093.50 received in the year. The Borough's worksheet lists six receipts in the period, totaling 5,493.70. The difference is 3,599.80. The worksheet holds two receipts of exactly that amount, one on 05/12/2025 and one on 07/24/2026. Both fall outside FY2026. The record does not say which one the report counted. The report's cumulative figure, 60,495.70, carries the same 3,599.80. Overstated FY2026 receipts by 3,599.80.

Municipal Alliance costs on the settlement account

The FY2026 report says the REACH Committee decided how to spend the money and calls it "currently the Municipal Alliance." The Borough's vendor reports, printed 09/11/2026 and covering every account from 01/01/2018, show what the Borough paid for these events before the settlement money arrived.

The 2019 graduations at both schools were paid from Municipal Alliance grant, trust and matching accounts. The Indian Hills graduations of 2024 and 2025 do not appear in what the Borough produced.

In 2022 the Municipal Alliance paid 7,500.00 toward Living Lessons. In 2024 and 2026 it paid the school nothing, and the settlement account paid 15,000.00 each time. The Mayors Wellness trust paid the same 2,500.00 throughout. The FY2024 report certifies Living Lessons as a program funded and launched 05/15/2024. It describes a school day "focused on achieving individual goals and success while touching on the poignant topic of substance abuse."

The certified program figures for these events equal the five settlement payments to the cent. They are 9,800.00 for Living Lessons in FY2024, 5,200.00 in FY2025, and 3,000.00 for Project Graduation and 15,000.00 for Living Lessons in FY2026. The settlement money paid what the Borough's Municipal Alliance budget paid before, and at Living Lessons it paid 7,500.00 more per event. This project reads that as settlement money replacing local spending. The records do not show whether the Borough reduced its Municipal Alliance appropriation. Paid 33,000.00 for school events the Alliance used to fund.

Where the money went

The 2023 talk is a listed use, and the FY2023 report describes it. In 2022 the Borough paid 3,000.00 for a R.E.A.C.H. speaker from its Municipal Alliance Expenses line. One prior year does not settle whether the 2023 talk added to local spending or replaced it, so this project lists it as unverified.

What should happen

The Borough can return 33,000.00 to the settlement account and carry Living Lessons and Project Graduation on its own Municipal Alliance budget, as it did before. It can return the 190.00 wreath charge. The money can then go to a listed use or a documented abatement program.

The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services should examine the FY2024 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.